Sati Stigma

Within the Indian culture, the highest ideal for a woman are virtue, purity,
and allegiance to her husband. From this tradition stems the custom in which a
wife immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband as proof of
her loyalty. This custom in which a woman burns herself either on the funeral
pyre of her deceased husband or by herself with a memento after his death is now
referred to as sati or, in England, as suttee. In the original meaning, "Sati"
was defined as a woman who was "true to her ideals". A pious and virtuous woman
would receive the title of "Sati." Sati was derived from the ancient Indic
language term, sat, which means truth. Sati has come to signify both the act of
immolation of a widow and the victim herself, rather than its original meaning
of "a virtuous woman".

The term "sati" is associated with the Hindu goddess Sati. In the Hindu
mythology, Sati who was the wife of Lord Shiva, consumed herself in a holy pyre.
She did this in response to her father's refusal to invite Shiva to the assembly
of the Gods. She was so mortified that she invoked a yogic fire and was reduced
to ashes. Self-sacrifice, like that of the original Sati, became a "divine
example of wifely devotion". The act of Sati propagated the belief that if a
widow gives up her life for her husband, she will be honored. Socially, the act
of sati played a major role in determining the true nature of a woman.
Self-sacrifice is considered the best measure of judging the woman's virtue as
well as her loyalty to her husband. The following applies to the ideal wife: "if
her husband is happy, she should be happy; if he is sad, she should be sad, and
if he is dead, she should also die. Such a wife is called a Patrivrata". The
upbringing of many Indian girls emphasized the concept of Patrivrata as the only
way for a woman to merit heaven.

This concept of meriting heaven through self-sacrifice became embedded within
the minds of many as the only assurance for a female to gain salvation. A
female's life must be lived in full devotion to her husband; otherwise she will
be doomed for eternity and will live a cruel existence as a widow. According to
Ananda Coomaraswamy: "Women were socially dead after the death of their husbands
and were thought to be polluting". Only a woman who is sexually and legally
possessed by a husband is respected within the Indian society.

By sacrificing herself a widow saves herself from the cruel existence of
widowhood and ends the threat she possesses for society. She is considered a
member of society who has unrestrained sexual vigor, and thus may harm society
with immoral acts. A widow was seen as having irrepressible sexual powers and
could be a danger to her society. Remarriage in India was not favored. A widow
was not allowed to remarry, nor was she able to turn to religious learning, and
hence lived a bleak and barren life. The pain that a sati endures on the pyre
was less painful of an experience than the torture she must endure physically
and emotionally as a widow. If a widow decided not to join her husband, she was
separated from the social world of the living and considered to be a "cold
sati". She was only allowed to wear rags and was treated by her family and
members of society as an impure, polluted being. The prohibition, in which she
is unable to adorn herself, was considered justifiable, done for the widow's
"own interest".

The British government in 1829 prohibited the custom of sati. British India
declared the practice of sati as illegal and punishable by criminal courts. Such
a law revealed much about the British thought and opinion of India and its
customs.